Miss Anastasia's tales and lessons

Published 3:32 pm, Monday, November 11, 2013

Photo: Photos By John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News

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Anastasia McKenna, known as Miss Anastasia, gets animated while reading to children (and their parents) at The Twig Book Shop. Making faces and taking on the voice of characters in a story “makes it come alive for kids,” she says. less

Anastasia McKenna, known as Miss Anastasia, gets animated while reading to children (and their parents) at The Twig Book Shop. Making faces and taking on the voice of characters in a story “makes it come ... more

Photo: Photos By John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News

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McKenna, a former schoolteacher, has hosted a weekly story time at The Twig Book Shop for the past 14 years.

McKenna, a former schoolteacher, has hosted a weekly story time at The Twig Book Shop for the past 14 years.

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Anastasia McKenna warms up Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop to hear her read stories. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Anastasia McKenna warms up Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop to hear her read stories. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Anastasia McKenna warms up Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop to hear her read stories. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Anastasia McKenna warms up Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop to hear her read stories. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Anastasia McKenna tells a story Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Anastasia McKenna tells a story Friday November 1, 2013 in front of kids and parents gathered at the Twig book shop. McKenna is known to most as Miss Anastasia.

Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Miss Anastasia's tales and lessons

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Story time with Miss Anastasia always starts with a song.

“If you're happy and you know it, eyes on me,” she sings, smiling wide and crossing her eyes.

And just like that, she has the undivided attention of everyone — children and adults — in the room.

Miss Anastasia is Anastasia McKenna, a 43-year-old mother of three and former elementary schoolteacher originally from Blue Earth, Minn.

If you have or teach children in the San Antonio area, chances are you've at least heard of her: Miss Anastasia has hosted a weekly story time at The Twig Book Shop for the past 14 years. She also visits about 20 schools, shelters, museums and libraries each month, and even offers her services for kids' birthday parties.

“I think my obsession with children's books is from my desire to have them when I was younger,” McKenna said. “When I was a kid, I wanted so badly to order books from the Troll book order, but my mother said, 'No, you can go to the library and get books for free.' Now I have 2,000 books. I love the simplicity of them.”

There's nothing simple about the way she reads those stories, however. Before presenting them to children, McKenna studies the books to know when to make faces and use voices to sound like a character, and she looks for places to insert songs or rhymes.

“It makes it come alive for kids,” she said. “You know you did a good job if they ask you to read it again.”

Randy Fern brought his sons Colt and Nehemiah to a recent story time at The Twig because the boys enjoyed Miss Anastasia during a previous visit. She made an impression on him, as well.

“My reading skills have improved because of her,” Fern said. “I'm more animated, and (the boys) eat it up.”

McKenna's mission is for everyone to know the importance of literacy and human connection through reading. Not only will reading skills help children as they grow up, but the shared experience of an adult reading to a child leaves a lasting impression.

“People forget the value of their own person,” she said. “Kids want someone to sit with them and hold them. It says (to a child), 'You are the most important thing here right now.'

“I understand that there's some fear (in parents) out there to be a little bit vulnerable, but children aren't critical,” she said. “They will have fun because you're doing it with them. The reward for being brave like that is the feeling of joy. It's almost a guarantee.”

That message came across loud and clear to Vicki Yuan, one of the organizers of PechaKucha 20x20 San Antonio, a series of gatherings where creative people are invited to present ideas in a 20-photo slide-
show format; they have only 20 seconds to speak about each image. Yuan saw Miss Anastasia at The Twig and approached her afterward.

“I didn't know her type of job existed,” Yuan said. “She was so dynamic and so fun. I'd never seen anything like it.

“I think we're stuck in this rat race of our jobs and lives and the digital world, looking at screens all day,” she said. “Her message is so refreshing for adults to hear.”

McKenna made a presentation at the PechaKucha event in May and got a standing ovation, only the second such reaction any presenter has received, said Yuan.

One person in the audience was Rebecca Helterbrand, a member of the speaker selection and curation committee for TEDxSanAntonio, a local version of the global TED idea-sharing conference series.

“I saw Anastasia right about the time TEDxSanAntonio created our theme for this year, 'Minds Wide Open,'” Helterbrand said. “We were brainstorming on how we would take a group of adults and start off the event with something that really forces them to think of anything being possible. We really felt Miss Anastasia was the perfect opener (to do that).”

Speaking to adults was out of McKenna's comfort zone, however. She looked through old thank-you notes from children, teachers and parents to help give her confidence. After the presentation, which was Oct. 12, she was invited to read to several classes and groups.

“It was so affirming,” she said. “It fills me up.”

McKenna hopes to continue spreading her message through a podcast called Story Time Chicks with friend and fellow storyteller Tiffany Durham, aka Miss Tiffany. The project is in development. She's also written a children's book, “Hip Hop Grandpop,” that she'd like to publish in the future.

In the meantime, there's always storytelling.

“It's great to have a job where what you do is who you are,” she said. “Miss Anastasia is amplified for the audience, but she's still me.”